Justice delivered 6 years later

All Tina Williams wanted was to protect her kids.

Her relationship with her husband, Wesley Williams — marked by abuse, threats and protection orders — had deteriorated to the point that Tina Williams had placed his belongings in a suitcase on the front porch of their home at 2017 Fowler Ave. in Omaha.

Then, six years ago today, Tina Williams begged 911 operators to send help for her and her children. She had cut a hole in the drywall of her bedroom for her children, then ages 2 and 3, to hide.

And with her estranged husband pounding on the front door, Tina Williams feared the worst.

“Please, please, please hurry,” she urged 911 operators in a hushed, horrified voice. “My children ... .”

Monday, it was Wesley Williams' turn to beg for mercy.

Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon sentenced him to 70 to 80 years in prison for Tina Williams' death — roughly four years for each of the 20 times he stabbed his wife in front of their children.

Under state sentencing guidelines, Williams, 44, won't be eligible for parole until he's 73 and, if he isn't paroled, probably wouldn't be released from prison until he's 78.

Prosecutor Kim Pankonin called Tina Williams' death the worst domestic violence case she'd handled.

“She adored her children,” Pankonin said. “There was no doubt she was trying to protect them.

“There were numerous times on those 911 calls where she just kept saying , ‘My kids, please come, my kids.' You can hear the sheer terror in her voice.”

Yet, Tina Williams' siblings said Monday, their youngest sister hid that terror, hid that part of her life from them.

A state child protective services worker who desperately wanted kids, Tina Williams met Williams while he was in prison — and eventually married him. They had two children, but their relationship was marred by Wesley Williams' abuse and his drug and alcohol use.

For months, Tina Williams had tried to salvage the marriage — repeatedly allowing Williams to return despite his misdeeds. But by the end, she had filed for divorce and turned her focus to the couple's two children.

“She wanted to have a happy marriage,” said Linda Hogan, Tina Williams' sister. “But it became clear there was no chance of that. So she tried to get out for her kids.”

Keith Kern said his little sister lived and died for her children.

“No doubt in my mind,” Kern said. “Those kids were the most important thing in her life.”

Nowhere was that more evident than in the 911 calls made in the last 17 hours of her life — and in the grisly death scene.

In the first call, at 9:40 a.m. Nov. 2, 2003, Tina Williams repeatedly begged a 911 operator: “Please hurry, I have two little babies in this house.”

In the second call, at 10:08 a.m. the same day, Tina Williams became frantic, her breathing rapid. “He's really coming, please hurry, please, please. ... (Officers) said they would come back if he showed up so I can give him his stuff ... and he can leave me alone, leave me and our kids alone.”

Each time, Williams left before Omaha police arrived. Responding officers told her to call when he returned.

Then came the third 911 call. At 2:38 a.m. Nov. 3, 2003, three shrill screams filled the line before any words could be spoken.

Officers arrived minutes later to find Tina Williams' lifeless body doubled over between her 3-year-old daughter and her 2-year-old son.

She had 20 stab wounds, two of which went through her body. As one officer carried out the 3-year-old girl, he asked her:

Who did this to your mommy?

“Daddy,” the girl said.

Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley said Wesley Williams feels great shame and remorse for what he did to Tina Williams and the couple's children.

Riley said Wesley Williams' domestic violence history — prosecutors say he abused previous girlfriends in Cincinnati before coming to Omaha — had its roots in a troubled childhood.

As children, Wesley Williams and his siblings endured beatings from a mentally ill father. At one point, Wesley Williams' father shot his mother in the head.

She survived, but Wesley Williams was left dumbfounded as to what happened and why, Riley said.

Riley asked the judge not to penalize Williams for repeatedly requesting delays and filing appeals in a case that slogged through court for six years.

“He has been overwhelmed with guilt,” Riley said. “For a long time, he didn't want to face it. But he has never denied his actions. He is extremely concerned about the fact that his children were there ... and that one of the children is still traumatized by it.”

Both the daughter and son, ages 9 and 8, are “wonderful” children and are being raised by loving adoptive parents, Kern and Hogan said.

Kern said his niece has memories of what happened that night. But, Kern said, “she'll get past that stuff” — and focus on her mom's loving and spunky nature.

That's the task for Tina's entire family. After six years of waiting for Wesley Williams to be brought to justice, theirs was a message of urgency for other women trapped in domestic violence:

Get out and get help — for your sake and your children's.

“Nobody deserves to go through what she went through,” Linda Hogan said. “She was just a sweet little thing, and he took her away from us. It's not right that he's living and she's dead.”

Contact the writer:

444-1275, todd.cooper@owh.com

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